Device for hauling cars.



PATENTED SEPT. 10. 1907.

R. ARDELL.

DEVICE FOR HAULING CARS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR 28 1901 ROBERT ARD ELL, OF

STOOKHOLM, SWEDEN.

DEVICE FOR HAULING CARS.

March 28, 1907. Serial No. 365,211.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT ARDELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stockholm, Sweden, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Devices for Hauling Cars, and declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same,reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specification.

My invention relates particularly to railways wherein the cars areoperated by means of an endless movable chain or cable, and it has forits object to provide an arrangement wherein a car may be readily pickedup and be caused to travel at the same rate as the chain or cablewithout danger of accidentally releasing the car.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel form of grippingdevice for use in systems of the character described.

Specifically stated, my invention consists in the use of one or moreforks rigidly connected to the hauling chain or cable and so arrangingthe track so that a car may be readily engaged by the fork at one pointand be released therefrom after the car has been brought to itsdestination. The forks used have preferably a long prong and a shorterprong, the short prong being in front of the long one so that, as thefork approaches the car, the shorter prong may pass beneath a projectionthereon, while the other prong engages the projection and causes the carto move with the cable. A short movement of the car from its initialposition brings the projection beneath the upper end of the short prongso that the car is positively locked to the cable and is held againstindependent movement in either direction until its destination isreached, at which point an automatic release is effected. By thisarrangement all necessity for pivoted engaging devices on the cable isavoided, and the cooperating stops which it is necessary to employ inconnection with such pivoted devices, in order to prevent the backwardmovement of the car, is entirely done away with.

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention will behereinafter pointed out with particularity in the claims; but for a fullunderstanding of my invention in its various aspects, reference is to behad to the following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a part of a system arranged in accordance with apreferred form of my invention, a car being in position to be engaged bya fork on the cable; Fig. 2 shows the same car being carried up anincline; Fig. 3 shows the car about to be disengaged from the fork at apoint which the car is adapted to be brought Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1907.

' to rest; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a differentconfiguration of track at the starting point; Fig. 5 is a view similarto Fig. 3, showing, however, a different configuration of track at thedestination; and Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, the car beingindicated as traveling down the incline instead of ascending it as inFig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates a track upon which a car B isadapted to travel, G is a chain or cable which may be of any usual type,preferably in the form of an endless traveling member. The chain orcable runs parallel with the track, except at the starting anddestination points, and is provided with forks D which are adapted toengage with a projection on the car to cause the car to be positivelycarried with the chain or cable.

The member D is made in the form of a two-pronged fork, the prong dbeing longer than the prong d., This fork is adapted to engage with anysuitable projection on the car. Instead of employing a separate memberfor this projection the fork may be so proportioned as to engagedirectly with one of the car axles E. The fork may be secured to thecable in any suitable way so that when the cable is taut the fork willproject rigidly therefrom.

In order to effect the engagement and disengagement of the fork with thecar at the proper times and prevent disengagement at other times, thecable and the track are so related to each other that between thestarting and stopping points the cable runs parallel with the track andat such distancetherefro'm that the fork is positively held inengagement with the axle 01 other projection; while at the starting andstopping points the track and cable are caused to diverge sufficientlyto permit the fork to be drawn out of engagement with the projection onthe car. Any suitable arrangement may be employed for effecting theseresults; thus, for example, the track may be curved at the starting andstopping points. In Fig. 1 I have shown an arrangement wherein a car isto be picked up at the foot of an incline and carried up the incline.The stretch of track a at the foot of the incline a is at such an anglethat when the fork approaches, the short prong passes freely beneath thefront axle of the car, while the longer prong strikes against the rearside of the axle and compels the car to move with the cable. As the caris carried upon the incline the axle gradually descends between theprongs of the fork so that, while on the incline, the car is positivelyheld against movement in either direction independently of the cable. Itwill be seen that the car may be moved down the incline in the samemanner, as indicated in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a convenient way of effecting a disengagementbetween the fork and the car when the car reaches its destination. Thusthe track a at the top of the incline is arranged at such an angle thatafter the car leaves the incline the fork is gradually drawn downwarduntil both prongs are carried below the axle, after which, of course,the fork continues its movement without the car.

In Fig. 4 there is shown an arrangement of track whereby a car mayconveniently be brought to the proper starting point and there beengaged by a fork without requiring any attention on the part of theoperator. Thus the section of track a between the sections or and a isdepressed and is of such length that when a car is pushed in position itautomatically stops in proper position to be picked up.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a still further arrangement whereby a car may bereleased from the chain or cable at the foot of an incline. The sectionof track a immediately adjacent the foot of the incline may be horizontal, while the following section a is either horizontal or downwardlyinclined, The release is effected upon the section a and, ii the sectiona is downwardly inclined, the car may then continue by gravity to someother point.

While I have described in detail a preferred arrangement for carryingout my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the particulardetails of construction shown, since in its broader aspects my inventionmay be carried out in val ious other forms, as will be evident from thedefinitions of my invention comprised in the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letter Patent is:

1. In a car haul, the combination with a moving cable, a fork rigidlyconnected to the cable, and a track, the cable and track being soarranged relatively to each other that the fork is caused to assumedilferent positions rela tively to the track at different points alongthe track.

2. As an article of manufacture, a cable having pro jecting therefrom arigid fork the prongs of which extend laterally from the cable atseparated points lengthwise of the cable.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a chain or cable having projectingtherefrom a rigid fork, one of the prongs of which is longer than theother.

4. In a car-haul, the combination with an endless chain or cable, of arigid fork projecting therefrom, a track, a car adapted to travel alongsaid track, and a projection on the car adapted to be received betweenthe prongs of the fork, said track and cable being arranged parallelwith 'each other, except at the starting and stopping points for the carat which latter point the track and cable diverge.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT ARDELL.

Witnesses CARL FRIBERG, I'I-TALMAR Jn'r'rnns'rnou.

